Wondered Why I Was MIA?

I was on a much anticipated mini vacation to Springfield, OH! Mom and I left Thursday and managed to hit one scrapbook store, a Dollar Tree and Cold Stone Creamery along the route! We arrived in Springfield a little earlier than expected so we were able to hit one antique mall! Found some great things there! Mom found lots of vintage hats and as she started pulling a few there was a brief desire on my part to grab up the ones closest to me for later dissection but I didn't! We had a yummy dinner at Red Lobster near our hotel and then crashed. Got up early Friday morning in order to hit the Springfield Antique Show at the fairgrounds. We paid the early bird admission, ouch!, and spent about 3 hours outside. The weather couldn't have been much better! A nice cool breeze in the morning, no humidity and it didn't get hot until about noon when we were heading inside to the two open buildings. Lots of neat things for eye candy and purchasing! I found quite a few goodies for my etsy shop and a few things for my personal collections and Christmas gifts for mom and Tim! We did a lot of walking! We had time to go to another one of the big antique malls before it closed but it was the most disappointing one of the three! I did find a vintage Mr. Potato Head friend in the original box, however!

We also had about an hour at the big Heart of Ohio antique mall so we went on over and started it! Then ate a quick dinner at Panera Bread and hit two Big Lots and a Goodwill! Found some good books at the Goodwill! And some great Basic Grey alpha stickers and a Blush matchbook album to make at Big Lots!

Saturday we checked out of the hotel after another good breakfast and headed back to Heart of Ohio where we spent 3 1/2 hours! On the way we stopped at a couple of yard sales and a major junk shop. However, I spent 1 1/2 hours digging through boxes on his second floor and found some great things for etsy! It was like being at an estate sale! Yummy lunch at Ramona's Cafe inside the mall and wonderful eye candy in every nook and cranny! Just so fun to see such wonderful treasures! We drooled and drooled over the wonderful storage cabinets thinking of how perfect they would be in a scrapbook room, sigh....We came away with some goodies from that mall and then headed on to Xenia, OH. NEVER go 30 minutes out of your way, sorta, to a dealer's booth in anticipation of the same goodness he had at the antique show! Poor mom, she was hoping for more beautiful vintage hats and instead was greeted with moth eaten millinery and torn veils! We made the best of the detour and hit another little antique mall, a used book store and a thrift store while there. I found the most wonderful treasure at the thrift store for $7, it wasn't even for sale until I begged and begged, and can't even share it with you as it will be put away for a Tim gift!

We arrived back home last night to a very happy kitty who slept on my pillow most of the night above my head. Uck. But I couldn't push her off, I'm such a softie!

Our Home and Collections Featured in Vintage Indie Magazine!

I was recently contacted by Gabreial Wyatt, the fabulous editor of Vintage Indie, an online magazine, about doing a virtual home tour of our collections! The article debuts today in the column My Vintage Pad! Gabreial even created a slide show of the pictures! She was great to work with and I love the ideas and inspiration in her magazine! Check it out!

The Grand Grilling Finale

So as a final Fourth celebration, we grilled. Yummy cheeseburgers on the charcoal grill, there is nothing quite like that taste! I also whipped up some baked beans for Tim using a Paula Deen recipe and they were quite the hit! A swarm of gnats brought us indoors though so we didn't get to sit at our table on the porch very long. So, in spite of our mean ol' vandals we had a really nice holiday weekend!

One Thing Leads to Another

So after purchasing two new porch planters they had to be painted. Found the white paint in the basement so got busy and painted both of them last night before dinner. Well, that led to painting the bases they were on which led to "why not just go ahead and give the whole porch a fresh coat of paint?" So, for the next three hours I painted and painted and painted. I got some paint on the actual concrete but I think most of it got on me- my hands, arms, legs, clothes and hair! I am the sloppiest painter! I made a huge dent in the painting project but still have more to do! Hopefully, later this summer or fall, we can paint the floor and steps of the porch, along with the door!

Patriotism in the Midst of Vandalism

So, off we went today to put the morning discovery behind us and the day turned out really nice. We got several pots from our neighbor to house my evicted flowers in temporarily and visited with them for a bit. Then a quick stop by Subway for lunch ended with us getting a huge container of cookies for FREE! It was free cookie day and they had anticipated a crowd, making over 100 cookies! Well, turned out we were their 5th and 6th customers of the day by 12:30 and they said help yourselves to cookies! So, we took like four each. We were sitting in the car and one of the sweet girls ran out and offered us a partial tray! Well, sure we'd take them! YUM!

Then on to the Stewart's Flea Market where we met Walter the horse. We actually ended up in the wrong parking lot and building as we didn't know that there was a horse and pig show going on in the usual building! So, there was Walter next to our car. I got to feed him a peppermint and then off we went to South Wing C! Show was okay, nothing to write home about, but I got a neat Playdoh Farm Factory toy, mint in box, from 1962 and some things for Etsy! Tim found a Life magazine he had been looking for. He also got to count the walking around as his physical therapy for the day as he is supposed to be walking so many blocks a day now!

We then went by the Concrete Lady and purchased two new planters for the porch and a neighbor was nice enough to come over and carry them up to the porch for us! Tim still can't lift over 8lbs and I knew I couldn't lift them at all!

Then it was on to mom's where my uncle grilled steaks for us and we enjoyed a yummy dinner complete with two cakes and lots and lots of cookies! We played our patriotic cd's during dinner which was nice and everyone enjoyed them. Then we donned our patriotic headbands and sparklers and took some pictures until Tim needed to go inside and rest before heading home! Long day!

Unhappy Fourth of July

Last night Tim and I sat in our upstairs bathroom and watched the downtown fireworks from our window as we've done in the past. I put in a patriotic music cd and we enjoyed our little unexpected celebration.

I intended to come downstairs this morning and take a picture of a vintage Uncle Sam paper doll set for the blog. Instead, however, I am posting pictures of what I found on our front porch when I looked out the window. Vandalism. Ugly, ugly, mean vandalism. Two of our concrete planters knocked to the concrete porch floor and broken into many pieces, my geraniums, spikes and flags laying there amongst the mess. So, now we have to buy three new planters, potting soil, paint and I'll have to paint them, let them dry, borrow some temporary containers from my neighbor in an attempt to salvage my plants, and then replant. And who is going to lift all this, especially the new planters? Moi.

Not to mention the clean up of the porch. This is now the third issue we've had with our front porch, which is on a busy street and well lit at night! Two thefts and now blantant vandalism.

Let's Play!

What a cute vintage book! One of the little treasures I've picked up recently and just added to my etsy shop last night! A Whitman Tell-A-Tale book from the 1950s, it has the cutest illustrations! They just don't make them like they used to!